Health and Hygiene

Health and Hygiene

Every Monday, the students are taught a different health and hygiene topic.

The subjects are very basic and cover such things as the importance of using a toilet, washing your hands, food hygiene, drinking only clean water, and the causes of the main illnesses that affect their village.

In Cambodia, the biggest killers of young children are respiratory infections and diarrhoea. In fact, 38% of deaths in children under the age of 5 can be attributed to diarrhoeal diseases and pneumonia.

The students are encouraged to go home and tell their parents what they have learnt. The feedback that we get from the teachers regarding this is very encouraging.

They report that many people within the village of Prasat Char are beginning to adopt better hygiene practices and are gaining a better appreciation of the importance of health and sanitation issues.

Out of one class of 40 students only 4 owned toothbrushes so all our students are regularly given toothbrushes and taught basic dental hygiene.

As part of our ongoing health and hygiene education the students are constantly encouraged to wash their hands with soap after using the toilet.

It has been shown that the simple act of hand-washing with soap can lead to a 50% reduction in diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory infections. (Sources: World Health Organisation, UNICEF’s State of the World Children Report, International NGO Water and Sanitation Programme.)